My childhood offered me a culture in my village that has made such an impact on me for years after that,in every new endeavor more and more. Then,every household in the village had their cattle and since everyone could not manage to take them to field villagers had developed turn system in which each day the responsibility was given to a single household. In this way all the cattle of whole village were fed nicely and only one family had to worry about it while others could give time to other chores. As the sweet result,they have to only worry about it once in 40 days.
My maternal grandfather gifted me a cow so that I could be healthy since my family did not consume any meat item and he was worried if I would be weak. For few days I would go to field to cut grass for the cow after my school and manage. But,that,because it consumed my huge time on a daily basis, was being difficult for me because I had my homework and I wanted to play. Then my dad joined the system so that we have to take care of them only one day. Good part was we exchanged our turn with another family to make it on Saturday. So, first time I took cattle under the guidance of my father. It was really hectic work. I was doing what my dad used to tell me. I understood all the process and was ready to take cattle on my own. At that time, I never thought this will have an effect on my future. Now when I remember those days. I remember how I was being trained with managerial skills. Managing more than 50 cows and bulls was not that easy as it seems. If single cattle had entered anyone’s field,it would have been a great problem.
Staff Hiring
I had 5 rupees saved from my pocket money. And I knew my mom will pack me nice snacks for the day. So, I asked one of my friends to join. I knew he would hesitate because it was all about giving whole Saturday for work instead of playing. So, I told him if will come with me I will give him a whole packet of Parle G biscuit. And then he agreed as sweetly as Parle G biscuits were,and still are, I guess. This helped me to build a nice team while starting my company “Chaitanya”. The decision of choosing was really important from intern to project manager. All the people whom I talked were dear to me but. Only with Perfect skill shot were in the team. Few were angry for sometime because they were not in team.
Setting Goal
I set my goal to take all the cattle into different pasture without losing or getting them into any cultivated field. I made route to different pasture and planned where to take them first; how much time we will spend on a single pasture and from where we will return. Also, I planned to eat snacks on biggest pasture so that there is less chance of getting into any problem. This still helps me to set work deadline and long term work goals along with team member. Recent example of this is one of our digital campaigns we achieved our targeted goal one week before because of understanding the situation, planning accordingly and delegation of right work to the right person.
Delegation
We decided that he will walk in front so that cattle can follow him and I took the responsibility of walking behind making sure that no cattle are left behind. Delegation is one of the important roles for every manager is important. Knowing skills of team members and delegation of work accordingly is the key to success of every team. I now focus on understanding skills and interest of team members so that I can delegate works accordingly this not only increases work efficiency but also team members enjoy the work. Every work I have completed is the result of that.
Behavioral Approach
Understanding nature of cattle to act accordingly was really important because a single step could disturb all cattle and create chaos and it would be really a big problem managing it. It was a bit difficult on the first day but when I understood how cattle react on command and how to control them. Understanding behavior of stakeholders of any organization can help to run it smoothly and reduce conflicts both inside and outside of the organization. Before jumping to any conclusion or assumption I try to understand the behavior of stakeholders what might have resulted them to behave like that both positive and negative. If something is triggering to negative behavior I try to reduce them and if something is triggering positive behavior I try to continue it. It was really helpful for me when I was organizing tedx for the first time to deal with speaker I had to talk according to their interest and I was able to convince most of the speaker at first meeting it self.
There are other so many skills which developed during that period. I never thought of them as skills but now when I reflect back at those days. Every villager in my village is a manager. There is a lesson and learning everywhere. It’s just we need to change our perspective towards it. And learning to manage doesn’t necessarily need huge international seminars,our local experiences can be reflected and managed.
